Compared to European countries, Americans work substantially more than do Germans, French, and Italians. This is contrary to the trends of the 1970s when Europeans worked more than Americans (Hurst 2006). Arguments are made that the American citizens must work more in order to make up for the things that are provided in most developed European countries such as France, Denmark, German, and the United Kingdom. For example, in theses countries, all citizens are provided with health care. At least in France and some of the other countries provide subsidized desirable housing for all citizens that prove unable to provide fully for themselves in contrast to the government assisted homes in American that often become run down and undesirable. In the United States, the cost of health care is so high that, for many people, it is only available if they have medical insurances, which are usually a benefit provided by a person’s employer. With a lessening faith in social security benefits, Americans have to personally plan for their retirement. In order to combat the lower employee morale and the lack of people taking advantage of paid vacation opportunities, human resource departments are starting to implement more programs aimed at making it more acceptable and expected for people to take these breaks. Some of these programs are requiring employees to take a certain amount of vacation time. Others are stating that a person must take a specified amount of time off consecutively. The more generous programs call for giving the employees up to $500 for luggage and travel expenses. Caroline Neal, HR director of Motek, a software firm that employs some of these programs, says that CEO An Price, “has a very European attitude toward vacation� (Butler 2005). It is interesting to see that when management does not penalize their workers for taking vacation, but actually encourages it, they are seen as having a European attitude. Many
Maine
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